"Illusions?" an acrylic on board by Greenwich artist Mary Newcomb is among the works on display at the 97th annual Greenwich Art Society juried exhibition. It runs through March 28 at the Bendheim Gallery
of the Greenwich Arts Center at 299 Greenwich Ave, Greenwich Conn. less

"Illusions?" an acrylic on board by Greenwich artist Mary Newcomb is among the works on display at the 97th annual Greenwich Art Society juried exhibition. It runs through March 28 at the Bendheim Gallery
of ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo

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"Tulips," a drawing by Greenwich artist Joseph Kantorski is among the works on display at the 97th annual Greenwich Art Society juried exhibition. It runs through March 28 at the Bendheim Gallery
of the Greenwich Arts Center at 299 Greenwich Ave, Greenwich Conn. less

"Tulips," a drawing by Greenwich artist Joseph Kantorski is among the works on display at the 97th annual Greenwich Art Society juried exhibition. It runs through March 28 at the Bendheim Gallery
of the ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo

Image 3 of 4

Old Greenwich artist Carol Dixon's mixed media embroidered collage "Whirligig" is among the works on display at the 97th annual Greenwich Art Society juried exhibition. It runs through March 28 at the Bendheim Gallery
of the Greenwich Arts Center at 299 Greenwich Ave, Greenwich Conn. less

Old Greenwich artist Carol Dixon's mixed media embroidered collage "Whirligig" is among the works on display at the 97th annual Greenwich Art Society juried exhibition. It runs through March 28 at the Bendheim ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo

Image 4 of 4

At 97, Greenwich Art Society's annual juried show keeps it fresh

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As a child, Carol Dixon was never far from a needle and a thread, nor the wherewithal to make them useful.

With her Russian paternal grandmother's help, she learned to embroider and embellish everyday objects.

"We would cross-stitch big tablecloths and napkins," said Dixon, who grew up in Brooklyn, N.Y. On her way home from school, she would stop at her paternal grandfather's tailor shop, where he would give her a few remnants.

However, as Dixon began to blossom as an artist, it was paint to which she turned and, ultimately, where she predominantly stayed until a vacation in the 1960s to a small house in the Berkshires of Massachusetts.

"I didn't want to take all my oils and turpentine," she said, leaving her without the material to capture the rich, natural scene around her. Such was her lot until she took a short shopping trip, found her way to a five-and-dime store and discovered some embroidery thread and felt rectangles. Taking them back to her cabin, she began creating works based on what she was seeing beyond her door -- the dark and light shadows and rich colors and shapes created by the flora of the forest.

"That's where it started," Dixon said.

An example of one of those mixed-media embroidered collages, "Whirligig," was recently selected for the 97th annual juried exhibition of the Greenwich Art Society. Dixon, a longtime member of the group, has lived in Greenwich since 1972. The show, which features 85 works from 79 artists, runs through Friday, March 28, at the society's gallery and at the Bendheim Gallery of the Greenwich Arts Council at the Greenwich Arts Center.

"It's full of found papers and fabrics, and then I work with the embroidery thread to create the whole effect," Dixon said of her work.

The works in the show range from abstract to representational and feature multiple media, including oil, pencil, fiber, acrylic, bronze, watercolor, pastel, ink, photography, encaustic and steel.

Longtime Greenwich resident Joe Kantorski was pleased to learn he had made the cut. His graphite drawing of tulips in a vase has been catching visitors' interest, perhaps as much for the drawing as the presentation.

"I knew I needed to add something to it, so I put down some pieces of trace and began to sketch some more tulips" as an exercise to give him an idea of what a few more blooms would do, he said.

"Instead, my teacher suggested to just leave it the way it is." For viewers, it gives a glimpse into Kantorski's creative process.

"This one is a bit of an aberration for me," Kantorski said. "I like to get it to a point that it is really tight."

A longtime graphic designer, Kantorski recently returned to art after more than 40 years running his own design firm. "It's just been a great pleasure," he said.

For Greenwich artist Mary Newcomb, her painting "Illusions?" also represents a departure. At 12- by 12-inches, the acrylic on board is smaller than her typical work and does not use the plastic that she typically teams with paint. "It is a continuation of the work I had done on a painting fellowship to Italy in 2012," said Newcomb, who joined the society in 2006.

Similar to Dixon, it was a simple practicality (overseas travel) that led her to forgo the plastic and large canvases with which she usually worked. As a result, she too rediscovered a treasured medium. "I began to work on paper again," she said. "I recall thinking it was making me a little uncomfortable. But in the end, it was great."

In a sense, it brought her back to her beginnings as an artist. "I started out some 20 years ago with very realistic figure drawings that then evolved into the abstract," she said. "This work (with the fellowship) felt very elementary, as if I was going back to the basics."

Whether representational, abstract, a departure or familiar territory, the works are a great representation of the group, said Anna Patalano, an artist and president of the society. "The fact that this is our 97th year really speaks to the longevity of the organization ... and the high-caliber work of the members," she said.

Dixon said over the years, she has seen more and more artists from farther afield submit work for consideration to the show, which makes her believe the reputation of the show is growing.

"You can find everything from very small works to very large canvases, as well as assemblages and avant-garde work," she said. "The quality of work is amazing."